Here is one of those releases that makes me pull my hair out. I got the promo late, after my year end list was almost complete, and it’s good enough that it was on and off my 2016 year list, but ultimately barely didn’t make it, and now whenever I listen to it, I wish I had made room for it.

What we have here is a hard to describe take on death metal from this Los Angeles based act featuring members of the underrated SoCal  black metal act Lake of Blood, who I reviewed here a few years ago. It’s hard to describe, because it has some unique, Bolzer like, unorthodox structures for death metal, but when rendered with a seething, bristling guitar tone and some killer deep cavernous growls, it definitely becomes death metal. I also get a bit of a House of Atreus/Arghoslent vibe due to the dirty sound that’s still somehow memorable.

At 27 minutes, the release is short and to the point, with the first track being a 1:20 intro, so there’s is only about 25 minutes of actual metal here, but what a snarling, feral, twisted and impressive 25 minutes it is. After the intro,  the wonderfully named “Resplendent Misery” delivers a killer, off kilter, crunchy gallop that was the track that gave me the Arghoslent feel,  and ends with a downright menacing, shriek filled lumbering close out.

“Feast of Martyrdom” really cements the Bolzer sound with a twisty, shifty nastiness that’s hard to nail down, while “Murdered While Praying” goes straight for the jugular. “To Deceive the Universe” has a killer, shifty main riff that the band hammers home with complete abandon, while “Our Place of  Worship” delivers a nasty stop/start riff. The album ends with a cover of Clandestine Blaze’s “Church of Atrocity”, showing the band’s black metal ties with aplomb.

In a year of tech death and Swedeath, Our Place of Worship is Silence stood out with a dark, unconventional sound that’s difficult to pigeonhole, both production wise and stylistically. It’s a pity its only a cassette or LP release, liming the band’s audience to what would other wise be a release many more people would be talking about.

[Visit the band's website]

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